College Savings

[damarvelous1]

Alright,

I need advice on the best route to go in terms of saving for my children's education.

Thoughts? I have a 2 year old and one on the way so I'm looking for long term advice.

Thanks

[TheFonz]

Not a 529 plan.

[damarvelous1]

Thanks for responding. Can you tell me why I shouldn't go the 529 route? I don't disagree, I just want to hear from different perspectives.

[TheFonz]

unless you are looking for the tax deduction 529 plans have no real value IMO.

1. You can only use it for higher education expenses. If you take the money for any other reason you are subject to a 10% penalty on top of paying taxes on the amount you withdraw.

2. It also counts against the student if they apply for financial aide from the college or university.

[BGv4.0]

Well. Simple putting away can go a long way without breaking the bank, as long as you make sure you stick to it and NEVER not put it away.

For example....and this is just a low ball figure...if you and your wife put away $100 every month for 18 years....that's $43,200.00 without any interest earned. So approx. $21,000.00 per kid....

Now of course that is not a lot for sure with tuition costs being what they will most likely be by that time. But you get the idea....constant saving can add up over time.

You just have to remember that money is never supposed to be used....if you get into a financial bind...you have to avoid the temptation to take from it. You cannot skip a few months without saving...it's a very disciplined path to take.

[KYLE THEEE SPINKS FAN]

Good luck.....it kills me how much schooling is now days. You could have $40K for one kid, and that might be only enough for one kid for one year, depending where they go.

I beat the system and got through 150 credits for about $40K all together. I graduated college four years ago and feel that's extremely cheap today.

Unless your child has an opportunity to go to an extremely prestigous university out of high school (Ivy League, nationally rated business programs), try to push them to go to a community college for 2-3 years. I saved thousands going to a community college and received 90 of my credits from a community college. You take the same general credits and general courses those first couple years. Work with school advisors to ensure you don't get screwed with credits transferring. I only lost about 10 of my 90 credits when transferring to the University of Minnesota.

Then, the last couple years, they can receive their four year from a good University. If they ball out in community college, they will have their pick of schools to go to. I got into the Carlson School of Management, easily the best business program in the state and a nationally ranked business program from a community college.

With this plan, I'd say pulling aside 100-200 a month might assist enough. My parents didn't help me with anything, and I walked out with $30K plus of loans. I don't think student loan interest rates are as bad as they were around 2006-2009 when I was applying for colleges. So, that route is always there too. It's possible your children will qualify for grants and scholarships too, which would drive down the cost.

Good look thinking about the stuff early though. I'm sure it'll all work out at the end of the day. That piece of paper can help you get in the door.

[TheTeddyBear]

Depending on what they are going to go for look into college's in other country's, a friend of mine was telling me how he paid 100k to go to Ohio State for engineering and now works for AEP and a lot of the guys that also work there are from peurto Rico and the engineering schooling down there was like 600 or 6 grand a semester i can't remember, i want to say 600, but schooling prices here are ludicrous compared to elsewhere.

The way I'm saving my children's is 10% of every pay check gets deposited into a savings fund that is untouchable until my daughter is 18 and the same for my son amd the same will be for soon to be born son. Is rough but needed

[and the NEW]

Fukc the US is a capitalist shithole! In Australia, a degree may cost you 20-30k, but you don't start paying it back until you earn a decent amount!

But some fukchead Prime Minister (the same one that was apparently going to take down Putin) is trying to change the entire system and move it more towards the US style system, which concerns me given I have a 1 year old and another one on the way! By the time they are old enough, it will probably cost me 100k each if this party stays in power!

Example, the average house price in Sydney is $914,000! Nearly a million bucks! WTF! What does the Treasurer of the country say about housing affordability? Go and get a higher paying job!!!

[Spyder]

The best investment plan that you can make is to make sure that your kids excel in school and qualify for scholarships. Use the money that you'd be stashing away to improve their quality of life growing up. Time spent keeping yourself and them engaged in academics and extracurriculars is the safest and most productive way to make sure that they are positioned for a successful future.

[boxingcritic]

What he said PLUS a 529 is the route i'm going.